FIJI WEEK 3

Bula Vinaka everyone! It was such a great week again, this week. We even ended up breaking our own previously set record from last week for lessons, so it was way succesful. I'm so tired from working so hard, but at the same time I'm happier then I've ever been. I'm helping people come closer to Christ, there is no better work then this!

So on Tuesday we did exchanges because my companion is the district leader, so we have to do exchanges with everyone in the district. I went up to Sigatoka with Elder Van Der Linden, it was a way good day. We studied way hard and worked way hard. They don't have alot of people to teach right now but we simply just walked around kind of speaking to everyone which was way fun. It was also a walking area which I liked alot. I really hope my next area will be a walking area because they are more fun. When you walk you just feel like you're part of the people which is just amazing.

Wensday I came back from Sigatoka and finally had a shower after like two days because the Sigatoka apartment's water wasn't running.. Oh Fiji.. haha Anyways we had like 5 lessons planned for that night but all fell through except for one. Fiji can be way hard to proselyte in because during the day people are usually napping or not home and making an appointment is usually useless.. haha and people HATE when you wake them up so it can be challenging, haha.

Thursday was a way funny day. We helped a less active member farm and plant Cassava which is basically a patato. Its weird to plant it. It is basically putting a stick in the ground so thats weird haha Anyways he asked me if I was from the city or the farm in America, and I said city. And he was like "Oh I can tell." haha I guess I'm not very good. I'll get batter though haha.  We then had a lesson with two recent convert Indian Kids, and they asked me who my favorite actress was and I said "Scarlett Johansen" naturally... hahah and then the girl was like "oh ya you look like her" HAHAHHHA I DIED. I'm pretty sure she didn't really know who that was.

Friday which is pretty much the last day I will write about because this weekend has been pretty non eventful. But anyways we went and visited Sister Tima, who is the first person I commited to be baptized here in Fiji. She just had  her baby but because her husband lost his job and has been drinking everyday since, he didn't even visit her in the hospital. How heart breaking, ugh I feel so bad for her. But she is now moving over to Lautoka to stay with her parents so we lost an investigator which is a bummer. I just hope that she still takes lessons there because she needs this gospel in her life. She thought about giving the baby away, because with her husband gone she didn't know if she could raise it alone. But she said because of us always visiting her and sharing with her the gospel, she is motivated to be a better mom and is going to keep the baby. Its so cool seeing the miracles like this that we deal with everyday. The church is TRUE.

We also gave the law of chastity lesson to a couple who are living together but not married. And they are going to try to be married so they can be baptized on September, 19th. SO COOl I love this work, it truly does change lives everyday.

Thanks again for all the support everyone gives me. Some times I am a bit rushed for time in emailing, so I may not be able to get back to you, but I love you all, and love hearing from you!

Love you all!

Elder Mumford

Fiji Week 2

Fiji Sunsets aren't so bad ;)

Wow another great week just flew by. I am so blessed to be in such an amazing country surrounded by so many amazing people. I love this place and can just feel it is the place for me. This week we didn't have too many airport duties because they're really trying to pull back on what we do here for the airport and let us focus on missionary work which is way nice because that's what I'm here for.

So for this week. Well last Monday we got to play some rugby in the rain which was way fun. We invited a bunch of kids to our game today so it should be way good but we will see! We also had two other elders from Sigatok (about 30 minutes away) come in and stay the night with us because we have district meeting on Tuesdays. One elder from Australia talked either in a Scottish accent or Sméagol, from The Lord of the Rings,voice the whole day. Like he didn't speak normal at all... What....... That was ummm interesting... And the other one is like a child because he is obsessed with guns. Toy guns, real guns it doesn't matter. He talked about guns all day. Wow it was just an interesting experience. They are the only other 2 elders in our district so we will be spending a lot of time with them the next few weeks...haha We went on splits and had lessons with the Saumandusa,an investigator family. The husband lost his job and they should have been kicked out of their house this week, but through lots of prayer they didn't luckily! Then we had a family home evening with a HEFY group from America who are on a service trip here right now. It was way weird to think that these kids were going home in a few days and I was just there... Idk haha

Tuesday we had a joint district meeting with the other district here in Nadi which was fun! And then at like 10:30 that night we had to pick up Elders from the airport and also drop off some Elders. We were there for like an hour and a half because an Elder going to the Christmas Islands had THREE overweight bags.... What in the world.. haha

Wednesday we had a great day. We are really feeling the blessings of planning your whole day then following through with your plan. We went to teach a 14 year old kid who was recently baptized but he wasn't there. So on the way back to the car, we walked by a sweet classic Fijian mud hut house thing (picture attatched) and just started talking to the guy and have a lesson with him tonight so that will be good!

classic mud hut house

Thursday we went and did service for a family in our ward. We debarked wooden posts for a fence and then after we all ate raw sugar cane together. SOOOO GOOOD There are fields of it all over and you can just cut it out and eat it. Way good!

Friday we had another lesson with the Saumandus and we heard that he had found a job. So at the beginning of the lesson I asked and found out that they hadn't. It was so awkward it just made me cringe and feel soooo bad.

Saturday we found a few new investigators that we will hopefully teach this week. We are so blessed! Then Saturday night we had a lesson with Sister Persad who fed us as well (what a blessed soul) but we are hoping to get her back to church soon.

Sunday for church we had to plan sacrament meeting once again. One of our speakers didn't show up at all.. So after the first two speakers spoke Elder Moore my companion looked at me and was like "You're up" Oh man... RUTHLESS.. haha So I had to give a whole talk in Fijian last minute with like 5 lines I scribbled down. Man that was way rough.. So I stuttered a 3 minute talk about faith and wow it was tough. The people are so nice here though and said I did so good. Hahah ya right...

Where we have church

At most houses I hang out with the kids most of the time because they are the most fun and on my maturity level haha. But when they talk to me I barely understand anything. So basically I have a kid level of Fijian. So imagine a big 19 year old kid like me coming into your house and teaching to you in a kid level of language... haha rough but the lord helps me everyday and I am so grateful for that. So ya that was our week. We taught a total of 21 lessons this week which is unreal for the area. That hasn't been beaten in this area since October of last year which is great! I can just feel the blessings piling onto us as we work our hardest everyday.

In other news we have heard a bunch of rats running around in what we thought were our kitchen cupboards in our flat, but we figured out last night after some investigating they are living somewhere in our oven, we just aren't sure where... haha But we don't really use our oven so as long as they don't come out no big deal. right? hahah

The Fijian food is way good, but we don't get fed much, and we live off of about 35 dollars a week for food. So we are pretty limited on what we eat. Lots of noodles and cheap canned meats.. YUM haha No but its good. I've just come to be so grateful for how we live at home, its truly eye opening out here. We live in a pretty nice place but where we go and teach is pretty much a 3rd world country. Just one room houses with about 10 people that live in there, and usually some running water. Amazing how lucky we are.

The average Fijian house

Well it was a great week with lots of hard work and blessings. I love this work and I love this gospel. Have a good week everyone!

Me and my companion

Beautiful sunset

FIRST WEEK IN FIJI

Bula Vinaka everyone!

Wow this has literally been the craziest week of my whole entire life. There is so much to talk about but I guess I will just start from Monday when we flew out.

Monday we were so excited to finally get out of the MTC. We flew to LAX then to Fiji. It was so crazy to think that when we took off from LA that we wouldn't be in America again for two years... just mind blowing haha. We traveled for well over 20 hours all together and finally got to the Nadi airport about 5 o'clock Wednesday morning because of the time switch. It's about 19 hours ahead here so I am writing this at about 12 o'clock on Monday, haha crazy. Oh and we also had Stev-O and the Fijian Prime minister on the plane which was like way random. Anyways we landed and were greeted by two airport elders (one of who is my companion now.) We got put on a bus ride over to Suva which is where the mission home is and which is all the way across the island. It's about a 5 hour drive on the coast of the island to get to Suva. Man talk about pretty! It was also possibly the coldest bus ride ever, like they had the ac all the way turned up the whole time and we almost died because it was so cold... hahaha I didn't think I would be cold in Fiji that quick... haha

Anyways we finally reached the mission home about 11 Wednesday morning and we had new missionary orientation all day. We finally split off at night with missionaries that night to teach. And me and a few other guys got split off with the AP's. We went and taught a few lessons with them and we talked to this ten year old kid who had just been baptized. He said he gets made fun of at school for being Mormon but he knows its true so he doesn't care. Man what a testimony. We went back to the flat that night and conked out at like 9 because we were so tired.

Thursday morning we went back to the mission home where president told us that day that one of us would be switched to a Hindi speaking mission... Man I was so scared that was going to be me. Learning Fijian for six weeks and then being switched completely to Hindi... No thanks.. haha Anyways we had interviews with our mission President first. Man President Layton is the man. Just such a successful guy and knows exactly what he is doing and exactly what he wants from us. I already respect him so much. Then we got our SULUS (skirts) Man they are the most amazing, most comfortable things on the planet. WOW they are great! I'll attach pics. When I went to the changing room to try on my Sulu I noticed that I had no idea how to put it on... hahah I was so glad to have the AP there to come in and help me out... hhaahah After we got our sulus we finally found out where we will be serving for the next 3 months while we are being trained! I'm serving in the Dratabu zone as an airport elder.

SO just a little bit about my area, Nadi is a so called "city" and it has the international airport here. It's kind of a village with an airport... haha weird. but anyways as airport elders we have the responsibility of doing everything involved with the airport. Whether it's holding missionaries that are waiting for visas or transferring elders to different areas. It's so much extra work on top of our missionary work but it is needed in the mission so we are glad to do it. My companion is Elder Moore from New Zealand who has been here for about 16 months already. He is awesome. I am so blessed with a companion like him who is obedient and knows the language well. We are going to kill it for the next twelve weeks!

So anyways on Friday I hopped on a bus back to Nadi where I met my companion and actually started missionary work. We were pretty much at the airport for all of Friday and Saturday just helping people who were going home from the missions and to help all the transfers... Wow just so much work. We got to teach a few lessons but not to many. The Fijian they speak here might as well be a different language. Geez its so fast and just makes my head spin... I will get it eventually though hahah.

Sunday came around and we had church. What a weird church experience. We serve in a unit (smaller then a branch) so we only had about 40 members there. Church was held in a little shack thing that had no walls just a roof... way weird. But anyways we as Elders serving in the Unit here are responsible to run the whole church service. From sacrament meeting to classes we have to organize it all. We thought we were going to speak in sacrament but we got bailed out by an old crazy lady who just screamed in Fijian for literally like 35 minutes... haha so funny. Also because there are no walls on the church building there were just chickens and dogs running all around us. I can honestly say I've never had chicken or dogs in sacrament... haha so that was way new. I saw this 4 year old kid like pick up a cat in the middle of the aisle and body slam it haha I was just dying watching it all.

After church with a couple of the members

This is truly a crazy place and I'm so lucky to be here. Sorry my thoughts are kind of all scattered because of all the new stuff so this email is all over the place. I promise I will have a more organized email next week. I Love you all so much and thank you so much for all the support. Moce everyone!

 

Your missionary has arrived

Dear Brother and Sister Mumford,

Your son, Elder Mumford, has arrived safely in the Fiji, Suva Mission.  He has been assigned to serve in the Dratabu Airport-FW area of the Dratabu district.  His trainer is Elder Moore, an exemplary missionary. 

Elder Mumford will be a fine missionary! He is excited to be serving, and we are happy to have him.  We know your family will be blessed by his service here in our mission.  Thank you for the role you have played in his preparation. 

We know you will support him with your letters and in turn, we have asked him to write to you each week.  For your information, missionaries are able to e-mail their immediate family once a week on preparation day.  However, please be aware that from time to time our missionaries are assigned to the more remote areas of the mission where e-mail is not available.  Sometimes the regular mail is a little slow, but be assure that we will do our best to keep the communication channels open.  A phone call home is permitted on Christmas Day and Mother's Day.

We look forward to a wonderful association with your fine missionary son. 

With warm regards,

President

My mission President and his wife

Hey Guys!

Hey we just got like two seconds to let you guys know that I landed here safely and am about to go out proselyting with the elders!! haha I'm nervous but so pumped, love you all:)

Travel Plans

Just some pics before I leave!!!

Gang photo with the whole squad

 

Family Photo haha

An accidental pic I took of my tag that's actually way sick!

 

The Fijian Elders and Sisters

 

 

Week 5 T-Minus 3 Days till FIJI

Bula Vinaka everyone!!

Goodness gracious I can't believe I leave in 3 days for Fiji.  It feels soooooo sureal.. Like I actually thought this day would never come. I'm just so excited to finally be out in heaven on earth, wearing a skirt and sandals, and sharing with them the beautiful message of the Gospel. Like there is nothing in the world that sounds better then that. WOOOOOOOOO Haha thanks again for all the love and support you guys give me everyday. I can just feel your love and prayers helping me out every step of the way, so thank you.

Well this week was another great week. Although I do like this place it's kind of an understatement that we are all getting so stir crazy being couped up in this tiny place for 5 weeks. We just can't wait to get out into the field.

So last Friday night, we got our travel plans for flying to Fiji. We fly on Monday from here to LA and then from there straight to Fiji. The funny thing is, Fiji is actually about 19 hours ahead of us time wise, so because we leave Monday night at 11, we will actually never have a Tuesday, August 11th. Haha We will just skip it and get there on Wednesday. Trippy right?! haha

Saturday and Sunday were great days and I finally finished the Book of Mormon while here in the MTC. Man such a great experience and I feel like I understand the book so much better now then I ever have. It is such an amazing book and is what our gospel is centered on. If you have the desire to know that The Church of Jesus Christ is the true church. Or are maybe wondering why I gave up everything I have to go and serve the people of Fiji, I testify that if you will read this book from cover to cover and pray about it in Faith, you will know that it is true.

Monday morning was really tough for me for some reason. I was just so impatient and mad at everything. So I prayed that I would feel more love in my heart and turn my day around and it totally worked. God really does answer prayers. The rest of the day I learned so much about the Gospel and the Atonement and felt so blessed. Monday night a sister from Papa New Guinea that is going to Fiji with us really had a bad night and needed a blessing. She picked me to give it and I felt so guided while giving it. Through the priesthood I was able to be a mouthpiece from God to her and I know that I was guided on what to say which was awesome.

Tuesday night Elder Russell M Nelson the President of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles came and spoke with us and WOW it was so awesome. It was his first speaking experience since being ordained President of the Quorum of the twelve which was way cool. From the moment he stepped in the room you could just tell he was set apart from God to do this work. Man it was awesome!

Wednesday morning our teacher challenged us to not speak a word of English all day and just speak Fijian. We thought it might be impossible at first, but man it was so much fun. The Fijian is coming so fast and I'm starting to be able to have full conversations in it which is so fun to do. I can't wait to go out and speak with real Fijians! Then Wednesday night me and my companion where selected by our teacher to do a real lesson in front of all the new elders and sisters that came in that day. We had microphones and everything and it was just so nerve wracking because it was the first experience these Elders had of being a missionary and we didn't want to mess it up for them, but it went so great!

Well that's pretty much all for this week. The next email you will all get from me will be when I'm in Fiji.  I love you all and I know that what I'm doing here is right. This message truly does change lives and I can't wait to give it to the people that need it in Fiji. I love you all! Moce!

 

Chillin at infield orientation, the most boring thing in the world.

Just your classic BOY BAND PHOTOS haha